Tony Blair has said he has ‘no recollection’ of his government helping a Libyan rebel commander fall into the clutches of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj is now commander of the Tripoli Military Council (Picture: Getty)

Abdel Hakim Belhadj, also known as Abu Abd Allah Sadiq, and Sami al-Saadi are suing the British government for complicity in their alleged rendition to Libya in 2004 and subsequent torture.

Mr Blair, who was prime minister at the time, told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: ‘About the Belhadj case, I don’t have any recollection of it at all.

‘There are many complicated reasons why the west’s relationship is difficult with the Middle East but I think [rendition] is probably the least of them. Rendition has been the policy of successive US administrations.’

Mr Belhadj, 45, who previously lived in exile in Beijing, China, said he was tortured after being detained with his wife in 2004 en route to seek asylum in the UK.

His claim stems from the apparent discovery of a letter dated 2004 purportedly from Sir Mark Allen, the former director of counterterrorism at MI6, to Colonel Gaddafi’s intelligence agency head.

‘I congratulate you on the safe arrival of Abu Abd Allah Sadiq,’ the letter states.

‘This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over the years.’